Last Friday in Los Angeles there was only one way to watch the Lakers play the Celtics -- KCAL Channel 9. There was only one huge catch: the eastern games start too early for KCAL's taste (4 to 4:30 PM) and so they time delay their broadast by an hour...
No problem, says I: I'll just skip the KCAL-9 broadcast and use the NBA League Pass. Oh, no -- that's too easy -- KCAL 9 seems to have obtained some kind of exclusive broadcasting rights so that viewers in the Los Angeles area are then blocked from NBA League Pass access (or any other access) to see these games.
Aren't there any regulations that support the consumer in instances like this? What if K-CAL decided to delay its broadcast by a day or a week? Would D* still be required to block southern California viewers' access to the League Pass broadcast? I mean I could understand if the game itself was local and the Lakers didn't want to broadcast it until they were assured the tickets were sold out. But if KCAL simply has to broadcast the games later, shouldn't they have enough minimal amount of consumer consideration to refrain from blocking access to real-time broadcasts?
I mean, I'm not sure how many other viewers are like me, but I don't bother to watch the game an hour later -- I simply just don't watch it.
Can I please have the entire KCAL-9 organization placed in jail?
No problem, says I: I'll just skip the KCAL-9 broadcast and use the NBA League Pass. Oh, no -- that's too easy -- KCAL 9 seems to have obtained some kind of exclusive broadcasting rights so that viewers in the Los Angeles area are then blocked from NBA League Pass access (or any other access) to see these games.
Aren't there any regulations that support the consumer in instances like this? What if K-CAL decided to delay its broadcast by a day or a week? Would D* still be required to block southern California viewers' access to the League Pass broadcast? I mean I could understand if the game itself was local and the Lakers didn't want to broadcast it until they were assured the tickets were sold out. But if KCAL simply has to broadcast the games later, shouldn't they have enough minimal amount of consumer consideration to refrain from blocking access to real-time broadcasts?
I mean, I'm not sure how many other viewers are like me, but I don't bother to watch the game an hour later -- I simply just don't watch it.
Can I please have the entire KCAL-9 organization placed in jail?
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